WP-ME.com

WordPress Plugins, Theme Collections, WordPress Hosting Reviews, Tutorials & More.

You are here: Home / WordPress / [FIXED] Unable to Create Directory wp-content/uploads. Is its Parent Directory Writable by the Server in WordPress
Unable to Create Directory wp-content_uploads. Is its Parent Directory Writable by the Server

[FIXED] Unable to Create Directory wp-content/uploads. Is its Parent Directory Writable by the Server in WordPress

| Last updated: 164 Comments

After moving from GoDaddy to SiteGround WordPress Hosting and I started to write a new post, I couldn’t upload an image to the new post and this message appeared:

Unable to Create Directory wp-content/uploads. Is its Parent Directory Writable by the Server.

First of all I thought that the problem may be from the permissions on the new server. I connected to my FTP server using FileZilla and started to check the wp-content/uploads via FTP and I found that the folder of the current month is present. After that I thought that the cause of the problem may be file permissions as WordPress is unable to write/edit the parent folder, so I changed the permissions through FTP but I still can’t upload files to media library and still getting “Unable to Create Directory wp-content/uploads. Is its Parent Directory Writable by the Server” error when I try to upload the files even after changing the browser.

How to solve “Unable to Create Directory wp-content/uploads. Is its Parent Directory Writable by the Server” error

The cause of this error is that the wp-content/uploads folder does not exist because when I installed WordPress on the old server it automatically extracted the old path for uploads folder. The old path includes the user account on the server and when I migrated to the new server the username changed so for WordPress the file does not exist.

Looking for good SEO plugins?
Here’s a list of the Best WordPress SEO Plugins (picked by an expert)

To solve this annoying error all what you need to do is changing the path of the old uploads folder to the new one. Follow these steps to solve the problem:

  • Log in to your WordPress admin panel (wp-admin).
  • In the left menu go to Settings » Media.
    Media Settings - WordPress
  • In the Store uploads in this folder field enter: wp-content/uploads and click Save changes.
    Change WordPress Uploads Folder
  • Now you are done, go and try to upload files to the media library again.

NOTE: make sure that the Store uploads in this folder field contain wp-content/uploads only.

I can’t find the “Store uploads in this folder” field in my Media Settings page?

If you can’t find the field in your media settings page you can solve the problem by adding the following code in your “wp-config.php” file:

define( 'UPLOADS', 'wp-content/uploads' );

just before this line:

require_once(ABSPATH . 'wp-settings.php');

And the “Unable to Create Directory wp-content/uploads. Is its Parent Directory Writable by the Server” error will be solved.

Looking for a good hosting? Read this: Best WordPress Hosting providers (Expert pick)

For LocalHost Installs (XAMPP)

If you’ve installed WordPress on a localhost, and faces the error message and none of the above solutions fixed your problem. You may need to reset the ownership of the installation to nobody by doing the following.

1. Run command line/terminal:

  • On Mac: Applications => Utilities => Terminal
  • On Windows: Start => Programs => Accessories => Command Prompt

2. Run the following command

After replacing wordpress with your actual WordPress installation directory.

sudo chown -R nobody:staff /applications/xampp/xamppfiles/htdocs/wordpress

Do you still get the “Unable to Create Directory wp-content/uploads…” error message?

If you couldn’t solve the problem and the “Unable to Create Directory wp-content/uploads. Is its Parent Directory Writable by the Server” error message still appearing, let me know by adding a comment below and I will help you to fix the problem.

[FIXED] Unable to Create Directory wp-content/uploads. Is its Parent Directory Writable by the Server in WordPress
4.7 (94.03%) 77 vote[s]

Reader Interactions

Comments

  3. Hi Ahmed, I tried adding the code line to my php file, unfortunately I still get the error message. I hope you can help me fix this issue.

    Reply

    • Hi Mathilde,
      If you tried all of the above solutions and none of them worked, I’d recommend contacting your hosting support team as it might be something with server configurations.

      Reply

  5. Hello Mate,

    I would like to thank you for this information as below code help me to sort out the problem.
    define( ‘UPLOADS’, ‘wp-content/uploads’ );

    Thanks you very much!

    Reply

  6. Thanks so much for this missing piece of the puzzle! I did everything like you did with file permissions, etc. and even added the root directory + subfolder path to the wp-content/uploads, but nothing worked. I was doing too much!
    wp-content/uploads was all I needed. Thanks so much for the “right” answer!

    Reply

  7. I am getting this problem and can’t solve it, please help. I only have FTP access, tried changing permissions from filezilla but it says “Command not understood”. Please Help!

    Reply

        • Hey Akinniyi Ayodeji & Team,

          Kindly edit the folder properties of the folder “uploads” by right-clicking on it and editing the security properties. Ensure that the user priviledges assigned to System user, Administrator user, Users, Trusted installer are all set to Full control. Click on Apply button and press Ok.

          Trying process of uploading contents to your wordpress website again.
          Bravo! Let me know if it works.

          Reply

  9. Hi there,

    This has proved very useful but I’m still having the problem. I have WordPress installed locally and have tried each of your solutions to no avail. Any other thoughts?

    Reply

    • Try changing the permissions of the folder, if it doesn’t solve the problem too try backing the files & Databases up and reinstall the local host.

      Reply

        • Then this might be caused by insufficient permissions or your anti-virus.
          Try changing the permissions of the folders and disable your AV.

          Reply

  12. This works for me after changing the permissions for the parent directory to read and write. I’ve been looking for a solution to this problem for the last half an hour and your blogpost really helped me out. Thanks a lot 🙂

    Reply

  14. Hi Ahmed,
    Thanks for all the effort you put into this, I am sure its greatly appreciated by everyone!
    I am running a localhost with XAMPP on OSX. In the wordpress dashboard -> setting -> media the upload section doesn’t show.

    – I changed the wp-config.php file according to how you described it in your post.
    – I changed the permission of the XAMPP folders in my finder to ‘read and write’. (For user: ‘Maarten’) The other two ‘users/groups’ (authedusers + everyone) have the permission to only read it. I tried to change these to ‘read and write’ as well, but I wasn’t allowed to change this setting for these two. However, I don’t think this seems to be the problem.

    Do you have any idea how to fix this problem?
    Thanks in advance!
    Maarten

    Reply

    • Hi Maarten,
      The following solution may help you.
      1. Run the Terminal: Applications => Utilities => Terminal.
      2. Run the following command after changing ‘wordpress’ to your WordPress installation directory:

      sudo chown -R nobody:staff /applications/xampp/xamppfiles/htdocs/wordpress
      Reply

      • Hi Ahmed Elgameel, i installed wp in my local machine and i getting the same error message and i also tried the terminal command and not fix my problem. i’m still getting the same error message.

        Reply

        • Hi Jorge,
          Check the permissions and it may also be caused by your antivirus.
          If none of the solutions worked, try reinstalling WordPress or the Local server.

          Reply

  15. I have this issue, had upgraded to latest WordPress 4.9.1 without issue. But now I can NOT upload new media with the error given on this subject. I’ve tried setting permissions to 755, spent over an hour on the phone with GoDaddy with tier 2 support, still not resolved. Last month, before I upgraded WP to 4.9.1, it worked fine. But now it seems WP can’t create the directory for “12” month so it fails.

    Reply

    • Also, I manually created the “12” directory with FTP, but when uploading now I get :
      “2017 Fast Trax Holiday Special 1024.jpg” has failed to upload.
      The uploaded file could not be moved to wp-content/uploads/2017/12.

      Reply

      • After 4 phone calls, and talking with different levels of support at GoDaddy, it is now resolved. They said there were “permission issues” on my shared server space. Its now working normally.

        Reply

  17. Sir
    I am using xampp control server 3.2.2 (apache & mysql) with WordPress 4.9.1 on windows 10 pro 64bit . I am trying to upload images or installing new themes but getting the following error:

    The uploaded file could not be moved to wp-content/uploads/2017/12.
    I already change the permission of folders to full control.

    Please resolve my problem.

    Reply

      • Sir
        The path is already created but it showing the following error
        The uploaded file could not be moved to wp-content/uploads/2017/12
        Following is the path for directory
        C:\xampp\htdocs\WP\wp-content\uploads\2017

        Reply

        • Try the last solution by adding the code to your wp-config.php file.
          And if the problem persists, try to reinstall XAMPP again after taking a backup.

          Reply

  20. I made made these stuffs but it not worked, the problem here was the directory permissions.
    Solution: change the wp-content.php permissions to be able to edit it. (You can do it just by going to the folder proprieties)

    Reply

  23. Hi! I’m having the same error msg even after I made those changes to the wp-config.php. I’m using a localhost/ in MacOSX. How I can change the permissions to 777, I don’t know how to do that!? Thanks for your help man.

    Reply

  25. Hi there Ahmed and thanks so much for what you do, helping everyone with their problems. I am running NGINX on Centos6 on VPS. I am getting this message, and nothing has worked to fix it. I searched WP for the string of the error message and it is printed from file “wp-admin/included/file.php”. I took out some “@” signs (error message suppression) to try to get some additional info. The resulting error message is:

    Warning: move_uploaded_file(/var/www/mysite.com/html/script/wp-content/uploads/7.png): failed to open stream: Permission denied in /var/www/mysite.com/html/script/wp-admin/includes/file.php on line 376

    Warning: move_uploaded_file(): Unable to move ‘/tmp/php3rLFVm’ to ‘/var/www/mysite.com/html/script/wp-content/uploads/7.png’ in /var/www/mysite.com/html/script/wp-admin/includes/file.php on line 376

    “7.png” has failed to upload.
    The uploaded file could not be moved to wp-content/uploads.

    A quick check of folder “/tmp” shows no temp file there. The error is “failed to open stream”. It seems to the PHP upload to /tmp is failing. Maybe this has nothing to do at all with WP. I set the /tmp folder owner to same owner as NGINX and with read write permissions. Anything else you can think of that could help debug/fix this? Thanks again so much.

    Reply

    • Hey Peter,
      The problem seems to be with permissions, I suggest you call your hosting support and they should fix it.
      All the best.

      Reply

      • Hi there Me. Ahmed, and thanks for reply. I continued to debug this, and after temporarily chmod uploads folder to 777, I could upload and I noticed the owner of the uploaded file was “apache”! But I don’t have user “apache” on my system. Nginx and php-fpm are user “www-data”, no idea where user “apache” is coming from. But I chowned uploads folder to “apache” and it seems to work now with folder permissions set back to 755. Thanks again for your helpful blog!

        Reply

  26. Thanks so much. Your solution worked a treat. Even though I followed the instructions I was still expecting to have to spend a lot of time tweaking to make things work for me. But not at all. Problem solved in less than five minutes. Thanks so much

    Reply

  28. Hi,
    I have no “Store uploads in this folder” field in my Media Settings page,
    So I used the code
    define( ‘UPLOADS’, ‘wp-content/uploads’ ); before the line of
    require_once(ABSPATH . ‘wp-settings.php’); on config.php
    But still no “Store uploads in this folder” in my Media Settings page.any suggestions?

    Reply

  30. You have no clue how many hours I spent trying to fix this issue. Thanks for your post, you just saved my brain of going crazy.

    Reply

    • Thank You so much. This solved my problem after moving my site to a new server. It is all so complicated and looked for several day before I found your solution. Thanks again for taking time to provide help.

      Reply

  31. hello. i am using local host server and getting error
    Unable to create directory wp-content/uploads/2017/05. Is its parent directory writable by the server? i tried both above solutions and still getting the error..any suggestions?

    Reply

  32. New installation on AWS with NGINX

    Using ‘define( ‘UPLOADS’, ‘wp-content/uploads’ );’ just renders my website dead

    Only way was to give the folder 777 even 775 won’t work. Is there a way to just give 777 permission to NGINX or a particular user in this case?

    Cannot leave it to 777 for reasons you’ve already touched upon

    Reply

  33. Hello Ahmed,

    I am completely new to WordPress, and I receive the following error message “Unable to moved to wp-content/uploads/2017/02” while trying to upload any kind of files. Could you please help me with this? Looking forward to your reply.

    Thanks.

    Reply

    • Hi Athria,
      If you tried all the solutions above and you still can’t upload files to WordPress. I suggest that you contact your hosting support team, and ask them to fix the issue.

      Reply

  34. please sir, i have added define( ‘UPLOADS’, ‘wp-content/uploads’ ); to the wp-config.php file but that did not work, so how do i set the file permission to 775??

    Reply

  35. I have put that line as you said but it did not work. It can’t be hosting problem because i have other wordpress websites and they are working fine. So now how to resolve it?

    Reply

  36. Hey, I’m a complete newbie at building websites, everytime i paste the code into the .php in dreamweaver and save i still don’t get the store uploads option.

    I might be being really stupid here but like I said i’m a complete newbie at this.

    Any help?

    Thanks!

    Reply

    • Hi Andrew,
      You need to add the code to the “wp-config.php” file on your website. So download that file using FileZilla or any other FTP software, edit the file and upload it again to your website and replace the file on your website with the edited one.

      If this didn’t fix the problem, I’d recommend contacting your host to fix it as the issue might be with file permissions and changing them may affect your website’s security.

      All the best.

      Reply

  37. I have this problem with uploads, I receive the error
    “Unable to create directory wp-content/uploads/2017/03. Is its parent directory writable by the server?”

    I followed your post and did all that was recommended but still issue was not resolved. I don’t have the text box “store uploads in this folder”

    Reply

  38. Thank you so much for your help. Problem occurred after migrating to another hosting company. Your fix worked like a dream.

    Reply

  39. Hello,
    I get the same error.And I found out that my wp-content folder does not contain any uploads folder.So possibly it seems as if I have permissions problem.Please suggest.

    Reply

  40. Hello, I did all the changes you mentioned but still the same. Also there is no Upload section under Settings > Media.
    I tried to create it manually through wp-config but no luck, WP Version 4.6.0; Code snippet is as follows –
    /** Absolute path to the WordPress directory. */
    if ( !defined(‘ABSPATH’) )
    define(‘ABSPATH’, dirname(__FILE__) . ‘/’);

    /** Sets up WordPress vars and included files. */
    require_once(ABSPATH . ‘wp-settings.php’);
    define( ‘UPLOADS’, ‘wp-content/uploads’ );
    // Setting up Upload Path 9.02.2017

    Host is on Godaddy, Windows

    Reply

    • Thanks fr your comment and glad you could fix it. But you need to consider the security issues with 777 file permission.

      Reply

  46. hlo sir please help i still have this error [Unable to create directory wp-content/uploads/2016/12. Is its parent directory writable by the server?] please solve thanks.

    Reply

  47. Just tried to make some design changes and ran into the same problem. I followed the steps did everything but then I got a new error saying “The uploaded file could not be moved to wp-content/uploads/2016/12.”

    Please Advice
    Thank you

    Reply

    • The reason for this problem may be one of these:

      • Issue with file permissions due to Security check ran by host that changed permissions on your site » Set permissions as (775 rather than 755 for folders, and 664 instead of 644)
        NOTE: DO NOT set it to 777.
      • You’re running out of space at the time of error » try to upgrade your hosting account.

      Also I suggest that you contact your hosting provider to fix this issue.
      Thanks for your comment.

      Reply

  48. Thank you Ahmed for giving so much of your time to help others. I too have had hours of grief using WordPress for the first time (15 years out our IT). 4.7 is the version I loaded onto the server (hosted by zanyspace.com) as a .tar.gz. through the webshell, then decomp into a folder off the root (‘/wordpress’) went through the process of adding in details – server, dbase, UN&PW etc and it installed no prob and I’m signed it :-). However as I start designing, I too found I could not upload any pics and got the same error relating to this blog.
    Permission were then set 777 recursively from ‘/wordpress’ [parent folder] off the root, still no luck, so set them back to 775.
    I followed the instructions to modify wp-config.php, again with no luck. I then recursively changed permissions to 777 again and voila we have communication!! I can not leave the permissions openly set like this as you would appreciate. Do you have a way the server will see WordPress as either ‘Owner’ or ‘Group’ instead of ‘Other’?
    The config on the server seems to have all the correct settings (+ your mod through Textpad).
    I have even added an ftp sub-account in the cPannel with the same UN&PW as the mySQL db thinkging it my be a ftp issue but no luck there. The only way for WordPress to allow uploads is with 777 or 007 set from /wp-content on wards and I can’t leave it like this, it’s vulnerable.

    Reply

    • Thanks for your comment Andrew,
      I think you need to contact your hosting support team to fix this problem.
      They should figure out where the problem is and set the correct permissions.
      If you need any further assistance, don’t hesitate to drop me a line here!

      Reply

  51. Hi, I just connect My web host to WP but Im having this problem too, I did the things you mentioned but nothings shio up in setting/media , could you please help me out ?

    Reply

  55. Hi, i’ve tried everything you said, and it still doesn’t work.
    I can’t see the folder in Settings > Media, even after adding the line to the wp_config.
    I’ve tried the 777 method, but that also didn’t work.

    Reply

    • Are you using a Localhost or an online host?
      If it still not working after changing permissions to 777, change the permissions for the “wp-content/uploads” directory too to 755 or 777.
      The cause may also be running PHP in “Safe Mode”. If so, contact your hosting provider to change the owner of scripts and upload directories to belong to your account or ask him to disable Safe Mode.
      And let me know if it still not working.

      Reply

      • Thanks for your response!
        I’m using a online host (a server from my school)
        The map “wp-content/uploads” does not exist in my FTP server. I’ve tried creating it manually, but then wordpress returns this error : ‘The uploaded file could not be moved to wp-content/uploads/2016/10.’
        Also, letting wordpress install a theme on my site doesn’t work, i keep getting an error, even though i know for sure the information is correct. : http://imgur.com/a/EadwE

        As for the PHP safe mode, i’m not sure how i can check that? I can’t contact teachers at this time since it’s vacation.

        Reply

        • The problem is with your FTP account, From the screenshot you can easily understand that WordPress can’t connect to the FTP server, so it can’t create any new Directory or file or edit any old one.
          I think you need to contact your teachers or your school’s system administrator and ask him to solve the problem with the FTP server.

          Reply

      • Hello Ahmed, I am using a Localhost on xampp on a mac. I tried to do exactly what you wrote, but when i edit the wp-config file i get another error:
        Parse error: syntax error, unexpected ‘require_once’ (T_REQUIRE_ONCE) in /Applications/XAMPP/xamppfiles/htdocs/nish/wp-config.php on line 91

        Kindly assist.
        Regards.

        Reply

        • Hey Reagen!
          The error that you get is mainly because you didn’t edit the wp-config.php file correctly, so try to fix this issue or paste the content of the file and I’ll don my best to solve this issue.

          For the “Unable to Create Directory wp-content/uploads. Is its Parent Directory Writable by the Server” error, I think you need to provide more information about what exactly you did? as I mentioned many ways in the article and in comments. For now, you can try checking your Mac user account permissions, as sometimes your account don’t have permissions to edit some folders and those folder may include the Xampp folders.

          So either change permissions to 755 or 777 or give your user account full control over the folder.

          Reply

  57. MR. Elgameel,
    I am also having this problem. When I try and upload a theme I get the following error:
    The uploaded file could not be moved to wp-content/uploads
    When I try to upload a picture to post in a blog entry I receive the same error.
    I have added the code:

    /**added as per wp-me .com suggestion*/
    define(‘UPLOADS’, ‘wp-content/uploads’ );

    to my wp-config file.
    I have permissions setting of 755 on folder “uploads” and it is owned by nobody,nogroups.
    I have unchecked the box asking if i want to keep it in a month and day folder.
    I have bounced apache and I am at a loss. I have several plugins and a theme to install before going live with this thing.
    Can you be of assistance sir?
    Kind Regards,
    Brad Hamilton

    Reply

    • First of all, check the box that asks you to keep it in month and day folder.

      Also have you added the code before the other line I mentioned?
      Are you using a localhost? or a web hosting account?

      waiting to hear from you, and if I couldn’t help you here I can connect with you on Facebook for further assistance!
      Thanks for your comment.

      Reply

  58. I was looking for this because I have this issue as well. But when I checked the Media Settings I have thumbnail sizes and Organize my uploads into month- and year-based folders. > “Store uploads in this folder field enter: wp-content/uploads and click Save changes” isn’t there. No place to add it. I have no way to fix it going about the using this simple answer. I am not sure about the other options I see in comments about other ways to work around this.

    Reply

    • Hey Kim,
      If you don’t find the field you can add the following code in your “wp-config.php” file:
      [php]define( ‘UPLOADS’, ‘wp-content/uploads’ );[/php]
      but, make sure to add the code before this line:
      [php] require_once(ABSPATH . ‘wp-settings.php’);[/php]
      And it should work.

      Reply

      • I have no clue where that file would be. In the theme or where? I can’t find it. I check in Editor of the theme and it’s not there. I Google it and found this https://codex.wordpress.org/Editing_wp-config.php Which isn’t helpful, just told me where you find the file. 🙁
        If its in WordPress itself and my issue is in a blog , what can be done? 🙁 I have 2 blogs that have this issue.

        Reply

        • The file is in the main directory of WordPress.
          See this: https://imgur.com/EaEwnB7
          Just open it with any text editor like Notepad or Notepad++ (Preferred) then click CTRL+F and search for this line:
          [php] require_once(ABSPATH . ‘wp-settings.php’);[/php]
          and add this code before it:
          [php]define( ‘UPLOADS’, ‘wp-content/uploads’ );[/php]
          If you couldn’t do this, send your wp-config.php file to me and I’ll edit it for you.
          But It contains sensitive data like you WordPress database username and password.
          Thanks!

          Reply

          • I have did as this is but i found again error message like “The uploaded file could not be moved to wp-contentuploads.” please solve the problem. I am working on my website on local serve with xammp

            Reply

    • If you don’t have the option to change the uploads folder in your media settings page, you’ll need to change it manually.
      Open your “wp-config.php” file with any code editor and add this code to it:
      [php]define( ‘UPLOADS’, ‘wp-content/’.’uploads’ );[/php]

      Reply

      • Hi Ahmed, I read with attention this whole discussion but couldn’t find the answer to my problem I am working on my localhost… and I can’t change the permission… it doesn’t appear when I right click on it… any other ways to do it ? Thanks a lot.

        Reply

        • Hi Benjamin and sorry for the late reply,
          You can change permissions on localserver by going to the folder you want » Right click on it » Properties » Security » and change the permissions for the current user to “Full control”.

          Reply

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Limited-Time Offer: Get WordPress Hosting + FREE Domain from Bluehost for $2.95/Mo instead of $7.99 Claim Offer »
+ +